1. Field
Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to the field of extraction of micro cargo by air pickup and more particularly providing a system for capture of a of a suspended micro cargo tethered by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with a tether capture device.
2. Background
Extraction of cargo from remote sites typically requires either ground or air transport from a first location to a desired transport point. For extraction by air the aircraft must land, take the cargo onboard, take off and fly to the destination. For small parcels or “micro cargo”, the time, fuel and potential hazards of landing an aircraft to retrieve the micro cargo or the lack of suitable landing sites may require transport of the cargo by land. In certain instances such as biological or natural disasters, landing an aircraft for retrieval of a micro cargo such as biological samples in medical emergencies or epidemics or radiological samples in a nuclear disaster may not be advisable. Similarly, clandestine removal of micro cargo such as computer storage media or physical materials may not allow the use of normal aircraft.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and system for aerial retrieval and transport of micro cargo in which landing is not required.